The present invention relates to a method for rapid identification of art objects and, in particular, the use of radioisotopes to mark art objects or any other valuables.
In order to insure valuable art objects, complete descriptions and any identifying marks are kept as records by insurance companies. Often identifying marks are merely the artist or author's signature which like the original can be skillfully duplicated by a forger. It is possible that an insurance company will use its own identifying mark placed in some obscure place; however, when such a mark is used it is usually a physical etching or something similar. The problem with physical marks is that they can be removed, either by accident or on purpose.
In addition to identifying marks, insurance companies rely on physical evidence such as the artist's style, signature and the materials used in producing the art work. Some forgeries have been so close to the artist's style that even the better experts have been fooled. To make a positive identification, an art object is tested to see if the materials used were available to the artist. Paints, in particular, have been changed over the years since most pigments came from natural sources in the region where the artist lived. Today, many pigments are synthetically produced and shipped around the world. However, to make physical and chemical tests of the paints requires removing small amounts from the painting, which is not practical.
The present invention overcomes the problems which hampered art identification by placing a small micro-dot of a radioactive material at a specific location on the work of art.